Protect
by Netto Zero
Summary: Anyone can protect the ones they love, but sometimes the protector has to be the protected...
1. New

Title: Protect

Summary: Anyone can protect the ones they love, but sometimes the protector has to be the protected.

Parings: SasukexOC(Kairi), ItachixOC(Yumiko), GaaraxOC(Kaoru), NarutoxHinata, SakuraxKiba, NejixTenten, ShikamaruxTemari, InoxSai

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND THE GETBACKERS AND SINCE I DISCLAIM THIS, YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT TO SUE ME! =P.

Note: This sort of follows the manga but has its own story route. It happens after the Pein invasion, but Konoha is completely restored and as good as new.

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CHAPTER 1: New

Kairi's POV

"We're almost there. The forest is starting to clear!" I exclaimed to the little boy beside me as I grabbed his hand and ran towards the large green gates with red letters. Just before we entered through the gates, I stopped to take in this feeling of awe. The village is oh so beautiful!

"Kai-chan...any day would be great," the little boy tugged my hand and looked at me with an annoyed expression, his eyes squinted and his mouth in a straight line.

"Sorry Jun-kun! I just had to take in this view," I smiled sheepishly. Should probably walk now instead of angering Jun.

* * *

Normal POV

Kairi and Jun were about to take one step forward when an orange blob ran towards them tripped over his own foot and tumbled on top of Jun. Jun groaned and shoved the orange clad ninja off him. "Watch where you're going," Jun mumbled and glared at the clumsy blonde.

"Sorry," the blonde-haired, blue-eyed ninja got up and smiled nervously. He was about to continue talking to the two strangers when the smell of Ichiraku Ramen found its way to his nose. "Gotta go!" He exclaimed and became an orange blob again.

A few seconds later, a pink-haired ninja jogged towards Kairi and Jun. "Sorry about that," she sighed. "He's been complaining non-stop about not having ramen during this whole mission."

"No worries," Kairi smiled. "I'm Kairi Fuuchouin and this is my stepbrother Jun Kakei." Kairi lightly pushed Jun towards Sakura.

"I'm Sakura Haruno," she replied and shook hands with Jun.

Kairi shook her hand as well and observed the pink clad kunoichi. _Sakura huh? Her hair matches the color of her name. _Kairi regained her posture and asked, "Is it alright if you can take us to see Tsunade-sama? She's expecting us."

Sakura nodded and stepped ahead of them, "Sure, follow me."

Kairi and Jun looked at each other and back at Sakura. "That's it?" Jun bluntly asked Sakura in a monotone.

Sakura turned around and looked at him with a raised brow and her head slightly tilted, confused. Kairi cleared her voice and explained, "What he means is, don't you question any outsiders? I mean we could be intruders you know?"

"Oh no, Tsunade-sama has already informed me of your arrival a week ago when both Fuuchouin-san and Kakei-san's files were delivered to her," Sakura explained while leading the two newcomers. "She seems to be excited having the last Fuuchouin member joining our ninja forces along with a member of the Kakei clan."

Kairi nodded and smiled sadly, "Seems that the story has reached the ears of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Jun grabbed Kairi's hand and gave her a reassuring smile. Kairi grinned back. Sakura looked at her apologetically, "I'm so sorry if I overstepped my bound-"

Kairi put a hand up and stopped Sakura from speaking any further. "Relax Haruno-san," she grinned at her. "It was seven years ago, no worries."

Sakura hesitantly nodded her head and continued walking. Kairi and Jun awed at everything around them and before they knew it, they were inside the Hokage Residence that stood in front of the Hokage Monument. Sakura knocked on the door of Hokage's office which was opened by a woman with short black hair and black eyes. "Hello Sakura-chan," the young woman greeted and then smiled at the two newcomers. "You two must be Kairi Fuuchouin and Jun Kakei. I'm Shizune, Tsunade-sama's attendant."

Kairi smiled and waved while Jun nodded his head. Shizune led them to the Hokage's desk and had them seated. "Please wait momentarily, Tsunade-sama will be here any minute."

Jun tapped his foot impatiently as a minute became fifteen minutes. Shizune looked around nervously wondering where the Hokage is. Two seconds later, the doors are broken down by a angry blonde tossing a blonde through the doors. The big breasted lady marched into the office and purposely stepped on the male blonde she threw through the door. She sat down in the chair behind the desk and smiled as if she didn't assault the young ninja. "Why hello Kairi-san and Jun-san," she greeted them politely.

Kairi and Jun stood up and bowed. Kairi responded back, "It's an honor to be in your presence Tsunade-sama."

"Well it's an honor to have you two seeking citizenship here in Konoha," Tsunade sincerely smiled. "The council allowed to pass through the contract of rebuilding the Uchiha compound into the Fuuchouin mansion, but why keep the main house?" Tsunade asked curiously.

"My father's friend used to be the head of the Uchiha clan before the clan's tragedy," Kairi spoke up. "I would very much appreciate it if the main house was kept as a memorabilia of the clan."

"Wait they're moving to Sasuke's place?" the blonde ninja asked the Hokage.

"Not quite Naruto. The Uchiha compound is empty without anyone inheriting the land so they have every right to buy the acres of land. Since it brings more money to the village, it also helped fund the repairs from the Pein invasion," Tsunade explained and placed down the files. "Sasuke's house is still standing as Kairi-san has asked to leave it untouched."

Naruto kept nodding and took a seat beside Sakura. "Are the renovations done for the new Fuuchouin mansion, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked.

"Well it is, but that's why I need the two of you here," Tsunade glanced at Naruto and Sakura and then looked at Kairi and Jun. "Let's see, Kairi Fuuchouin." She reviewed through Kairi's profile once more. "Age 16, birth date July 27th, hair color dark brown, eye color electric blue, height 165cm (5'4"), blood type O-...that's a rare blood type," Tsunade smiled. "I expect a lot of blood donations from you young lady."

Kairi smiled and nodded nervously while she thought to herself, _ Till she finds out I'm horrified of needles..._

"Daughter of Kazuki Fuuchouin and Ren Radou, older brother is Ryuu Fuuchouin. You were adopted by Juubei Kakei, head of the Kakei clan, making you the stepsister of Jun Kakei over here," she rambled on and placed Jun's file on top of Kairi's file.

"Jun Kakei," Tsunade looked at him. "Age 9, birth date March 27th, hair color medium brown, eye color amethyst, height 119cm (4'7"), blood type A+, son of Juubei Kakei and Himiko Kudo, older brother is Hiro Kakei. That was a good review." Tsunade turned her attention back to Naruto and Sakura. "Sakura you have one mission and Naruto you have two."

Sakura nodded and Naruto groaned. "Aw why two Baa-chan?" Naruto whined. "We just came back from one.

"Relax Naruto it's not hard. The first mission requires both you and Sakura. This mission is to show Kairi-san and Jun-san around Konoha."

Sakura nodded. "Got it Tsunade-sama."

"And lastly," Tsunade stared at Naruto. "You will have Kairi and Jun stay at your place just for tonight as renovations have already finished, but the cleanup crew is to arrive tomorrow morning and have everything set for Kairi and Jun to move in the afternoon. That is your second mission."

"You got it Baa-chan!" Naruto grinned.

"Now you all are dismissed," Tsunade had Shizune escort Kairi, Jun, Naruto, and Sakura out.

* * *

Kairi's POV

Sakura and Naruto took us to the top of the Hokage Monument and pointed at random points in the village. Sakura smiled and tugged my arm, "And that's the Academy. That's where all the new ninjas train to make genin and are assigned into teams of three."

I awed at the sight and smiled back, "Must have been fun being a team huh?"

"Yeah Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and I, we were a diverse bunch," Sakura smiled sadly at the memory.

"Sasuke? The name does ring a bell. Is he Fugaku Uchiha's son?" I asked Sakura.

Sakura and Naruto both looked at me, shock etched in their face. "Yeah...how did you know that?" Naruto asked me.

"Well Fugaku-san and my father were pretty close friends," I smiled as I answered. "After my father saved him from an incident in Shinjuku, they became friends and kept writing to each other. He always bragged about his oldest son and how he has so much expectations from the younger one, which is Sasuke I suppose." I chuckled.

Naruto and Sakura frowned. I hope I didn't offend them or anything. Sakura looked at me and replied, "Sasuke-kun left the village three years ago..."

I gasped and Jun looked at me to no longer press on the subject. I decided to change the subject from then, "Is there any good food joints here?" I asked, a bit nervously and fought the urge to bite my nails.

Naruto suddenly jumped up and smiled as bright as his hair, "Ichiraku Ramen for sure!"

Sakura punched him in the head as it almost knocked him out of the top of the Hokage Monument. "Quiet Naruto!"

We laughed and talked about miscellaneous things till it was already nighttime at Konoha. We all got down from the top of the monument and parted ways from Sakura.

Naruto took Jun and I to his small, rundown apartment. The minute we stood outside his living room door, a weird stench came through the bottom door, which made my nose twitch. Jun glared at Naruto and covered his nose, "What's that smell?!" Jun demanded an answer from Naruto.

Naruto chuckled, "Well I was going to clean up my apartment till Sakura dragged me to Baa-chan's office for a mission...which was two weeks ago."

I sweat dropped and Jun shook his head.

* * *

Normal POV

Kairi and Jun hesitantly stepped into Naruto's apartment. The closer they got, the smell became even worse. "We should check the toxic level and wear gas masks here..." Jun said in a monotone.

Kairi nodded and started opening random doors. She eventually ran into the supply closet and found a load of cleaning utensils. "Found the cleaning stuff," she replied cheerfully.

The long-haired brunette handed the two boys a cleaning utensil. "I want this place spotless! Understood?" she asked with a stern voice.

"Yes Ma'am!" Jun and Naruto replied together and the trio got to work. Kairi ran into a few cockroaches but that didn't scare her. She actually felt sorry for the poor things that were trapped in Naruto's apartment and carried them out safely. Naruto and Jun bumped into each other constantly which ended up in a few petty arguments.

Hours later, it became midnight. The trio finally finished cleaning and slumped onto the green couch in Naruto's living room. "Finally, the room is sparkling and spotless!" Kairi cheered.

"Yeah no thanks to Narudork." Jun glared at the blonde.

"Don't call me that," Naruto looked at the little young angrily and Kairi sighed. "Oh, we have to figure out the whole sleeping situation." Naruto suddenly changed subject as he was losing the staring contest with Jun.

"I'll sleep on the couch while Jun-kun and Naruto-san sleep in the same room," Kairi smiled.

"No way Kairi-san you take my bed!" Naruto yelled out.

"No, she's not sleeping in your odor-infested bed," Jun continued to glare at Naruto. "I agree with her current plans."

"Alright!" Kairi cheered. "But is anyone a bit tired?"

Naruto and Jun shook their heads and Kairi smiled brightly. "Perfect! Let's play five words."

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"We each write up five words that describes ourselves or has something to do with us but in a sort of discreet matter. Then the others try to guess what it means," Kairi explained. "It's a thing my teacher back in elementary school used for students to get to know each other."

"Let's do it, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered and got three pieces of paper and a bunch of markers. Fifteen minutes later, the trio finished writing five words on their paper. Kairi looked up and looked at Jun. "Jun you should go first," Kairi smiled at the little one.

Jun nodded and showed his paper: 1) Needle, 2) Heart, 3) Sushi, 4) Bodyguard, 5) Gun. Kairi looked at it a bit skeptically and chuckled. Naruto looked at the word needle. "You have a hobby of doing acupuncture," he nodded as if he got it right.

"Not even close," Jun bluntly stated.

"This one is pretty easy, it represents the Kakei clan," Kairi smiled and looked at Naruto. "The Kakei clan uses needles as weapons and they can also use it as either medicine or poison. They were the doctors to the Fuuchouin clan."

Jun nodded and answered, "Correct."

Naruto huffed and shouted, "I'll get the next one right!"

Jun mumbled, "I doubt it," and chuckled to himself. "Okay. Next one is heart."

"You don't have a heart," Naruto joked.

"Wrong again, Losermaki," Jun smirked.

Naruto's eye twitched from hearing his new nickname.

Kairi patted Jun's head before she answered, "It's his favorite video game called "Kingdom Hearts" which does not exist here yet."

Jun smiled at Kairi, "Correct again Kai-chan."

Naruto pouted and looked at the next one. He had on a victorious smile and answered confidently, "The next one is sushi which is your favorite food!"

"You finally got it right," Jun sarcastically clapped, his face void of emotion.

Naruto cheered, "Dattebayo!" and gave Kairi a high five. "Okay, next one is bodyguard...do you have one?" Naruto asked.

Jun shook his head. Kairi smiled at this one. "He's my little bodyguard," she answered and ruffled his hair.

Jun smiled once again and nodded his head, "That's right."

Naruto awed at the two of them and looked at the last one. "A GUN?!" He shouted.

"Yeah Jun-kun, I don't even know what this one is..." Kairi trailed off, trying to figure out what this one was.

"Give up?" Jun smirked.

Naruto and Kairi nodded their heads. Jun sighed and answered bluntly, "It's a gun that I'll use to shoot at anyone, mainly males, that touches Kai-chan.."

Naruto and Kairi's jaw dropped to the floor and eyes widened as they tried to register what the little boy had just stated. Jun gave a satisfied smirk and replied, "It's Narudork's turn."

"Stop calling me that!" Naruto shouted before placing down his paper. His was listed as: 1) Ramen, 2) Hokage, 3) Fox, 4) Wind, 5) Spiral.

"Ramen is your favorite food!" Kairi and Jun shouted out at the same time.

"Of course I had to put that in there," Naruto replied sheepishly.

"Hokage...are you related to Tsunade-sama?" Kairi asked.

"Definitely not," Jun shook his head. "If he was, he definitely did not inherit her hotness."

Kairi and Naruto were once again amazed by the young Jun. Naruto shook his head to get rid of the weird thoughts that flew into his mind about Tsunade. "No no no, I will become Hokage of Konoha. It's my dream and I will make it come true!"

Kairi smiled and nodded, "You'll make a fine Hokage Naruto-san."

Naruto looked at Kairi teary-eyed and thanked the Fuuchouin. He rapidly shook both of her hands. This action earned him another glare from Jun. Jun reverted his attention back to the blonde's card asked Naruto, "Is that your favorite animal?"

"Nope." Naruto shook his head and dropped the girl's now aching hands.

"Oh I know this one," Kairi answered as she lightly massaged each hand. "You have the nine-tailed fox inside of you, the Kyuubi right?"

Naruto nodded his head. Kairi stood up and shouted, "Wow that's amazing! Can we talk to the fox?" She asked, excited.

Naruto widened his eyes as he did not expect this kind of reaction towards something like a demon living inside his stomach. "Well," Naruto started. "He can hear everything you say. He seems to have taking a liking to you Fuu-chan." Naruto smiled.

"Is that a rip-off of my nickname for Kai-chan?" Jun glared at Naruto.

"What? I have nicknames for everyone...just have yet to come up with yours," Naruto grinned.

Jun mumbled a 'Whatever' and Kairi stared at the next word. "Wind?" she asked herself.

"That's a tough one," Jun nodded his head in agreement.

"It's my chakra element," Naruto answered.

Kairi and Jun nodded and looked at the last one. "Spiral?" Kairi asked Naruto. "Like the little spirals inside ramen?"

"The way a tornado moves?" Jun asked Naruto.

Naruto shook his head. "It's the land my mother came from, the Land of Whirlpools and the spiral is their insignia. Also, my surname, Uzumaki, means whirlpool which is a three-dimensional spiral."

Kairi and Jun took in the information and nodded. "That's really fascinating." Kairi replied and smiled. "Okay, and last but not least, my turn." Kairi's list consisted of: 1) Tomatoes, 2) Star, 3) Gold, 4) Takashi, 5) Red Eyes.

"Kai-chan, the first one is way too obvious," Jun replied in a monotone.

"She loves tomatoes?" Naruto asked Jun.

"Love is a weak word for it..." Jun trailed off.

"Star? You love star gazing?" Naruto asked Kairi to which Kairi nodded with a happy grin.

"Gold?" Naruto and Jun asked at the same time.

Kairi took off the gold bells from the left strand of her hair. "I keep my white koto strings in here," Kairi explained mostly to Naruto. "Fuuchouin String Arts, it's my clan's fighting technique. These strings are so sharp that it can tear up bones and steel. They can also be used to listen in on conversations." She placed them back in her hair. "I keep them on my left side beside I am dominantly right-handed."

Naruto awed and nodded. "That's so cool."

Jun smiled at the next one, "Yumiko Takashi..."

Naruto looked at him with his mouth slanted, confused, and Kairi smiled, "She's my best friend Naruto-san."

Naruto smiled and nodded, "Like Sasuke-teme is my best friend!"

Kairi nodded as well. "I really do miss her..." She sighed and looked down at her lap, her lips drew a frown.

"What happened?" Naruto asked.

"She left the village with her clan after my clan's massacre since the clan's leader feared the same would happen to their clan," Kairi sighed again.

Naruto looked at her, his face saddened and apologized, "I'm sorry to hear that Fuu-chan..."

Kairi smiled and waved it off, "It's fine Naruto-san, and the next I have no idea why I even put that down!" Kairi grabbed the paper and crumpled it up. Jun frowned and pitied her. Kairi faked a smile this time and shooed Naruto and Jun out of the living room. "Well it's time to sleep! Jun-kun slip into your jammies and head to bed with Naruto-san!" Kairi ordered as she pushed them gently away from the living room.

Jun nodded hesitantly and followed Naruto into his room.

* * *

Kairi's POV

Why did I do that? Why am I thinking about this again? I sighed and changed into my pajamas. It's been seven years since it happened...why am I thinking about it now? I laid down and stared up at the ceiling. This is gonna be a long night for me...

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I hope you liked the newly edited first chapter of Protect! Please review and give me constructive criticism! Thank you ^_^


	2. Training

Title: Protect

Summary: Anyone can protect the ones they love, but sometimes the protector has to be the protected.

Parings: SasukexOC(Kairi), ItachixOC(Yumiko), GaaraxOC(Kaoru), NarutoxHinata, SakuraxKiba, NejixTenten, ShikamaruxTemari, InoxSai

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND THE GETBACKERS AND SINCE I DISCLAIM THIS, YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT TO SUE ME! =P.

Note: This sort of follows the manga but has its own story route. It happens after the Pein invasion, but Konoha is completely restored and as good as new.

鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛鍛

CHAPTER 2: Training

Kairi's POV

Blood...all I saw in my nightmare was blood. I jolted up from my sleep and panted heavily as I was up from the green couch in Naruto's apartment. It's been seven years since I had a nightmare about what had happen to my family. I looked outside the window. The moon shone right at my face. I closed my eyes to bathe into the moonlight as I remembered and recollected every bits of detail of what happened seven years ago...

* * *

Flashback - Kairi 9 years old (Normal POV)

_Kirigakure Academy, the school for upcoming ninjas. In Class 5-2, Kairi was sitting quietly by the window, braiding shoulder length hair as she waited for her father to pick her up from school. "Otou-san sure is late..." Kairi thought to herself, her mouth graced a frown. Her father was known for his punctuality. Even Kairi's sensei sensed that something was off. Kairi snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her best friend call out to her._

_"Kai-chan!" A girl with short, fiery colored hair ran over to Kairi, her tanto that was in its sheath bounced up and down._

_"Your sheath is loose Yumi-chan," Kairi giggled. "I'm surprised none of our senseis have said anything to you about that."_

_"That's cause they know I can kick their ass if they say otherwise," Yumiko put on a proud smile but then shook her head. "That's not why I'm here! Didn't you hear the ice cream truck outside?"_

_"No." Kairi shook her head._

_Yumiko groaned and grabbed Kairi's hand. "Then we gotta hurry!" Yumiko shouted and ran out of the classroom as she dragged Kairi along. Yumiko was running so fast that Kairi's feet barely touched the ground. "I feel like I'm flying," Kairi thought to herself._

_The two fourth graders made it outside and just in time to catch the ice cream truck. Yumiko let go of Kairi's hand as soon as they got to the side of the truck. The ice cream man chuckled at the two little girls and smiled. "Hey little ladyfellas, what can I get ya?"_

_"One chocolate cone and with EXTRA," Yumiko emphasized the 'extra, "sprinkles. And one vanilla cone."_

_The ice cream man chuckled even more and nodded. He finished using the ice cream machine and handed the vanilla ice cream to Kairi and the chocolate ice cream to Yumiko. Kairi licked the ice cream very happily. Yumiko, on the other hand, was displeased. "Wow, so many sprinkles," Yumiko replied sarcastically as the ice cream man forgot to put in the sprinkles on her ice cream. The old man rubbed the back of his head and took the ice cream cone back, covering the whole thing with sprinkles. Yumiko smiled brightly and licked it with delight. "Much better! How much will it be sir?"_

_He smiled and shook his head, "It's on the house. Have a nice day ladyfellas!" He waved goodbye as he got back to the driver's seat._

_Yumiko and Kairi waved goodbye at the ice cream truck as the music blared out of the speakers and left their sight. "This is soo good!" Kairi shouted._

_Yumiko nodded and smiled. "Yeah, and we got lucky it was free because I forgot to bring money."_

_Kairi sweatdropped and smiled nervously, "Yeah...thank goodness..."_

_Kairi and Yumiko took a seat on the bench outside the elementary school gates. Ten minutes have passed and still no sign of the thread master, Kazuki Fuuchouin. Yumiko looked at Kairi while biting on to her cone. "Want me to walk you home? I don't see Fuuchouin-sama anywhere." Yumiko asked Kairi after she finished eating the cone._

_Kairi nodded her head, once again she frowned. "Yes please..." Kairi sighed and tossed out her unfinished ice cream._

_"Are you okay?" Yumiko asked Kairi as she flicked Kairi's forehead._

_"Ow!" Kairi groaned and glared at Yumiko. "I'm fine...it's just that something doesn't seem right you know? Like, have you ever had this weird feeling that something bad is gonna happen?"_

_Yumiko nodded. "Of course I do. I had this bad feeling that I wasn't gonna get any sprinkles on my ice cream." Kairi giggled and Yumiko smiled. "Feeling better now?"_

_Kairi nodded her head rapidly and smiled brightly. "Much better," she informed Yumiko._

_Kairi and Yumiko neared the Fuuchouin compound that was freshly renovated in Kirigakure. They neared the gates when a strong stench of iron entered their noses. "Ew what's that smell?!" Yumiko shouted as she covered her nose._

_Kairi ignored the question and ran into her house. She knew something was off today. She slammed the doors open and found her older brother by the staircase laying in a pool of blood with his eyes wide open, drool fell out of his mouth, and his body twisted in an awkward position. His head was faced in Kairi's direction. Kairi stood still and couldn't move from her spot. Yumiko ran into the room and saw the sight as well, took a look at Kairi, and then covered Kairi's eyes with her hands. Yumiko whispered in her ear, "Keep your eyes closed."_

_Kairi nodded her head. Yumiko took her hands off from Kairi's face and slowly walked over to Ryuu's dead body. The smell got worse as she neared, but she tried her best to ignore it. Yumiko bent down a bit to get a closer look at the body. "Stab wounds in the stomach followed by a nasty cut on his ribcage and a large cut in his throat," Yumiko thought to herself. She placed a hand over his bloody shirt where his heart was and couldn't feel a thing. Yumiko sighed and closed Ryuu's eyelids, it covered his brown eyes. She gave him a small prayer and walked back to Kairi. _

_"I wonder where Otou-san and Okaa-san are..." Kairi cried, tears fell through her eyelids as they were still tightly shut._

_Yumiko grabbed Kairi's hand and guided her through the compound. The Takashi clan was not only known for their advanced skills with weapons, but also their amazing sense of smell that can rival a dog's sense of smell. Yumiko followed the even stronger smell of blood and got to the front of the meeting hall. Kairi stayed close behind Yumiko and kept her eyes closed. Yumiko slid open the shoji door and widened her eyes at the sight. A man with blue skin and shark teeth turned his attention to the two girls that had just entered the scene. He threw a man with dark brown hair to the side and walked over to his partner that accompanied the same black cloak with red clouds, except his skin was not blue and his hair was jet black that was pulled back into a ponytail. The partner stared at Kairi and Yumiko with his red eyes that contained three black commas. _

_Kairi opened her eyes, slowly moved away from Yumiko's back, and gasped at the scene in front of her. Her mother was already dead with a sword that was still stabbed through her heart. Ren Radou wasn't a fighter. She was a pharmacist and a skilled herbalist. Kazuki, however, was the one that was still alive and struggled to stay alive. His bells were shattered on the floor right by his wife. Kazuki slowly moved his head to meet the eyes of his daughter. "K-Kai-chan..." bloody Kazuki smiled and tried crawling over to Kairi. _

_"Otou-san!" Kairi yelled out and tried running to him, only to be held back by Yumiko. "Let me go Yumi-chan!" Kairi screamed out and tried to escape from Yumiko's grip, she failed miserably. She fell down to her knees and stared at her father._

_Kazuki whispered a thanks to Yumiko and slowly crawled up to Kairi, eventually reaching the distance to touch her face and wipe away her tears. "K-Kai-ch-chan...l-leave..."_

_Kairi rapidly shook her head and held onto his hand with her own as soon as Yumiko released it. "No Otou-san!"_

_"Y-You must..." Kazuki struggled to keep speaking. "Con-ti-tinue on...with...th-the...Fuuchouin...cl-clan." He smiled at her. "Y-you're our o-only...hope..." He kissed her cheek and released his hand from Kairi's grip. "I love you...li-little one..." He spoke weakly._

_The blue haired killer walked over to Kazuki and smirked. "Aw that was touching...let me give you a clean death...by cutting you into ribbons!" He shouted and swung his sword into the smiling Kazuki, all of it happened right in front of Kairi._

_All of it happened so fast. Kairi was staring at nothing, was not saying anything, just tears poured from her face. The man with the red eyes walked over to Yumiko, preparing to take her into his Tsukiyomi. Yumiko smirked and kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. Instead, the smirk became a frown when the man did not even wince from pain. The shark man chuckled evilly and spoke, "What should we do with these two? Our orders were to eliminate the Fuuchouin clan and take their secret scrolls."_

_"We'll leave the younger one alone Kisame," his partner spoke up. He bent down on the same eye-level as Yumiko and whispered to her, "Leave. Now." His voice was laced with demand but also sympathy. Yumiko ran over to Kairi and carried her away from the two murderers. Away from the accursed compound. Kairi blacked out in Yumiko's arms._

* * *

Normal POV

Kairi sighed and laid back down on Naruto's couch. The sun started to come up and Kairi was in no mood to go back to sleep. "Will I get insomnia at this rate?" She questioned herself and got up to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth, pee, and shower, respectively. She got out of the shower, fully clothed and ready for the day.

Kairi turned her head to the tiny red clock to see that it had just turned 8AM. The perks of winter in January were longer nights. Kairi smiled for the perfect timing and walked over to Naruto's room. She slowly opened the wooden door and peeked through it, only to giggle at the sight. Jun and Naruto were hugging onto each other. Kairi slowly tiptoed into the bedroom and lightly nudged Jun. Jun stirred for a bit and turned away from Naruto, but he was still asleep. Kairi bent down and whispered in Jun's ear, careful not to wake up Naruto. "Psst...Jun-kun...wake up."

Jun nodded his head and slowly opened his eyes. "What's up Kai-chan..." Jun trailed off when he noticed that there was an arm wrapped around his waist. Jun slowly turned his head away from Kairi and to Naruto, who was currently drooling on Jun's yellow pillow. Jun groaned and kicked Naruto's stomach so hard that Naruto was sent flying to the wall. "Pedophile..." Jun muttered under his breath, but it did not escape Naruto's ears.

Naruto stood up and rubbed his rear end. "What did you call me?" He asked in a serious tone.

"Ped-o-phi-le," Jun taunted Naruto.

Naruto was in the air about to tackle Jun but Kairi tackled Naruto down instead. "We're not playing ninja my ninjas!" Kairi shouted out and got off of Naruto.

Naruto groaned and got up again. "You two are a violent bunch," Naruto mumbled.

Kairi nodded in agreement. "Anyway, time for breakfast you two," Kairi informed the two boys.

Naruto and Jun groaned and walked out of the room. Kairi smiled and took this time to look around Naruto's room. She spotted a framed picture of Team Seven. "Wow, so this is his brother? Sasuke..." She stared at Sasuke's picture and then noticed a ninja with gray hair. "Who is this scarecrow?" Kairi asked herself.

"That's Kakashi Hatake, he's my sensei," Naruto replied. Kairi jumped up and almost dropped the photo.

"You scared me Naruto-san!" Kairi squealed out and placed the photo back on the nightstand.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled apologetically, "Sorry Fuu-chan. So what are we eating today?"

Kairi shrugged. "No idea. Let's go into town and find something!"

...

Naruto, Kairi, and Jun were wandering around town trying to figure out what to eat. "Hey Kai-chan?" Jun called out to Kairi.

"What's up Jun-kun?" Kairi turned to look at Jun.

"What are we gonna do after eating?"

"Well I can help you can perfect the Kakei Flying Jutsu and then we can move in to the new place after," Kairi responded.

"Sounds like a plan!" Jun shouted excitedly.

"You can smile?" Naruto grinned at Jun, which earned him a glare in return.

Kairi, Jun, and Naruto were about to pass by Ichiraku Ramen till they ran into a girl with long, dark blue hair, holding a picnic basket. Naruto smiled at the girl and shouted out, "Hey Hinata-chan!"

Hinata shyly smiled back. "H-hey Naruto-kun," she responded back and looked at the two strangers behind him.

"This is Kairi Fuuchouin and Jun Kakei," Naruto introduced them as they waved to the female Hyuga . "They're new here! And guys, this is my really good friend Hinata Hyuga!"

"So those are the famous Hyuga eyes," Jun responded back and stared intently into Hinata's eyes.

Hinata slowly fidgeted away and smiled shyly. "H-hai..."

Kairi's stomach growled and she chuckled. "We still gotta find something to eat."

Hinata stared down at her picnic basket and responded back, "Um...y-you guys can sh-share with me if you w-want. I p-packed so much and I w-won't be able to e-eat all this by my-myself."

Kairi, Jun, and Naruto all looked at each other and nodded their head in agreement. "Sure thing Hyuga-san!" Kairi replied cheerfully.

Naruto smiled and grabbed the basket from Hinata's grasp. "I can't wait to taste your cooking again!" He carried the basket for her and headed his way towards the training grounds.

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Kairi's POV

Everything for the picnic was set up and the food was delicious! It was packed with four bentos filled rice, fish, various vegetables, and most importantly, tomatoes! "This is very impressive Hyuuga-san," I smiled at the blushing Hinata.

"P-please call me H-Hinata, Fuuchouin-san," Hinata shyly smiled back.

"Then you must call me Kairi!" I demanded with a chuckle.

The four of us had a very pleasant chat and finished the four bentos very quickly. Naruto, Jun, and I all laid down after the delicious meal and stared at the sky. "That was so good," Naruto spoke up.

"The best bento I've ever had," I replied back. My okaa-san was not the best cook and the chef at the Kakei household was really good professional wise, but Hinata's cooking had a very homely feeling to it. I rolled up and laid on my belly with my elbows on the ground and my palms under my jaw. I looked at Hinata and couldn't help but notice her occasionally glances at Naruto. I grinned to myself. She must have a crush on him. I got up and stretched out. "Well it's time for training Jun-kun!" I shouted out and picked up the nine-year old back to his feet.

Naruto and Hinata nodded and started packing up the picnic stuff. After Jun and I helped out, they got up as well. "I'll walk you home Hinata-chan," Naruto smiled and carried the picnic basket for her.

Hinata stared down at her feet and nodded, a blush evidently formed on her face. Aw she's so cute! The both walked away together and left Jun and I in the training grounds. "Alright Jun-kun!" I turned to him. "Time for target practice with your needles, but before we begin, please review to me what the Kakei Jutsu is."

"Kai-chan," Jun looked at me sternly. "Is it because I have to know perfectly what I'm using or is it your crappy memory at work?"

I smiled sheepishly and rubbed my hand behind my head. "I mean...obviously the first one," I chuckled as I replied back hesitantly.

Jun sighed and responded, "Well, the Kakei Jutsu is using long needles as weapons can be used for either healing, poisoning, or defense. These techniques are passed down by the Kakei clan with an understanding of chi flow. As such, by inserting needles into the right points can turn a Kakei member's arm into steel. The Kakei clan also uses magnetism to control the movement of the needles so it can hit the target without any weather interference. From that, my father was known as "Juubei of the Flying Needles," a title I will one day inherit and beat my brother out of." Jun spoke with determination and passion.

I nodded and motioned him to take out his needles from his pouch. "And soon, you'll learn how to use the Black Needles," I replied back.

As soon as I put up the targets all around, Jun started throwing the needles at the center with ease. A few minutes into training, it started to get really windy. "Jun, are you going use magnetism soon?" I asked him.

"Not yet, till I perfect aiming without it," he replied back and kept throwing till one of them was completely blown away by the wind.

"I'll get it!" I shouted out to Jun before I ran into the forest to look for the needle. It couldn't have gotten too far. I kept turning my head in different directions to look for this damn needle. With a sudden light bulb in my head, I jumped up on the tree and saw something shiny thanks to the sunshine. I jumped back down and sat down to reach for the needle that was stuck in a bush.

As soon as I was millimeters from touching it, a purple snake slithered its way towards me till it stopped two feet away from me. "Hey snaky!" I smiled and grabbed the needle. "You know, you're kinda cute." I talked to the snake and was about to pet it, till it angrily hissed at me and tried to bite me with its large fangs. "That was very rude snaky! After I complimented you too!" I shouted, teary-eyed, and crawled backwards very quickly, away from the angry and not-so-cute anymore snake, till my back bumped into what felt like a pair of legs. I hugged onto the person's legs and noticed that the snake was gone. "Phew," I sighed with relief. "Thank you!" I thanked the person and smiled till I looked up at saw red eyes glaring down at me.

* * *

Normal POV

Naruto and Hinata were almost to the Hyuuga compound. Naruto curiously asked Hinata, "So why did you have four bentos?"

Hinata replied shyly, "Y-you know...I can't r-remember why..." She trailed off as her face paled with realization. She thought to herself, "Please forgive me Kiba-kun, Akamaru-kun, and Shino-kun..."

...

"Where's Hinata with our lunch?" Kiba impatiently asked himself and Shino while he kept stomping his foot on the ground.

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Thanks for reading! And I wonder who it is...Teehee =D


	3. Stranger

Title: Protect

Summary: Anyone can protect the ones they love, but sometimes the protector has to be the protected.

Parings: SasukexOC(Kairi), ItachixOC(Yumiko), GaaraxOC(Kaoru), NarutoxHinata, SakuraxKiba, NejixTenten, ShikamaruxTemari, InoxSai

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND THE GETBACKERS AND SINCE I DISCLAIM THIS, YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT TO SUE ME! =P.

Note: This sort of follows the manga but has its own story route. It happens after the Pein invasion, but Konoha is completely restored and as good as new.

珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍

CHAPTER 3: Stranger

Kairi's POV

Those red eyes...scary but beautiful red eyes glared down at me. I realized I was latched onto the stranger's legs and bashfully hopped away from them. I stood up and bowed at the handsome stranger. "I'm so sorry!" I apologized.

He stood still and glared at me. "Um...dude?" I waved my hand in front of his eyes. I took in a deep breath and yelled out, "WAKE UP DUDE!"

The stranger looked very pissed off and with a monotone answered, "I was awake you idiot."

"Then why didn't you answer before?" I questioned him. This guy is so strange.

"I was observing you," he replied back. "My next opponent..."

I looked around and then looked at him like he was crazy. "Me?"

He nodded and I started laughing. "You must be crazy stranger," I managed to speak out and I wiped the tears out of my eyes. "I come in peace."

The stranger didn't look pleased with my answer and started walking away. I jumped in front of him and blocked his path. "Did you need someone to train with you?" I asked him.

He raised a brow and threw a question back at me, "You don't know who I am?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm new here in Konoha. My stepbrother and I just moved into the former Uchiha compound."

The guy's eyes widened and then looked down. I could've sworn I heard a very sinister chuckle. "Take me there," he commanded.

"No can do!" Jun shouted out as he came running towards me. "That's why you took so long, Kai-chan!" Jun yelled at me as he stared at the handsome stranger.

"Actually it was a snake that started it..." I chuckled nervously.

Jun shook his head and then questioned the stranger, "Who are you?"

"My name is not of importance," he replied back. This guy is either really stubborn or just an asshole.

"Then no, we're leaving," Jun stated back. He grabbed my hand and started walking away from the stranger.

"Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke muttered out.

"Uchiha?" I asked him to which he nodded his head. "Then of course you can stay! It's your home too!" I smiled in delight.

"Kairi Fuuchouin!" Jun yelled at me. He must be furious if he's using my full name.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Sasuke, it's THAT Sasuke. The one that was in Losermaki and Haruno-san's team!" Jun explained.

"Oh! We should let them know right away!" I exclaimed and was about to run when Sasuke tripped me. "Hey what was that for?!" I yelled out after I face planted into the dirt and grass. I got up and wiped the dirt off my face and hands.

"You will do no such thing," Sasuke glared at me. "Me being in this village is to be kept a secret."

Jun and I looked at each other and decided not to question him any further. "You won't hurt us if we let you into the Fuuchouin estate, right?" Jun asked Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded. Jun came over to me and whispered in my ear, "He is way stronger than us. I'm not an expert at reading chakra but his is off the roof like Narudork's! He could be dangerous!"

I whispered back to Jun, "That's why we'll comply to everything he says for now. He must have a reason for being so secretive, you know?"

Jun and I nodded at each other and then turned to Sasuke. "Alright, you can stay at the Fuuchouin/Uchiha compound." I smiled at him. "You are now our official first guest!" I replied with excitement.

Sasuke replied with a simple, "Hn," and started walking ahead of Jun and I.

* * *

Normal POV

Kairi, Jun, and Sasuke reached the fully renovated Uchiha, now Fuuchouin, compound. The exterior was Colonial style, completely different from the traditional Japanese format the Uchiha compound once had with the exception of the main Uchiha house that was still standing. Sasuke looked over at the last of the Uchiha house. "I kept it there," Kairi answered, almost reading his mind. "My otou-san was best friends with Fugaku Uchiha-san..." Kairi smiled to herself. "We have never formally met each other, but your father always mentioned you in the letters he wrote to my otou-san."

Sasuke snapped his head towards her. "What? So you knew who I was?" He was very confused.

"Sort of...took me a while to figure out cause I am a bit on the slow side," Kairi chuckled. "I put all the puzzle pieces together while we were walking out of the training grounds. You have the same eyes as the man...who murdered my family," She spoke out with some difficulty but nonetheless continued. "After researching, I found out those eyes are called the sharingan and it was a bloodline trait of the Uchiha, but that was seven years ago and I had completely forgotten about it," Kairi explained to Sasuke as they went past the main gates and started walking towards the water fountain that was in front of the estate.

The three of them took a seat on the bench that was by the water fountain and Kairi spoke once again. "When Jun-kun and I moved to Konoha yesterday, we stayed over Naruto-san's apartment and I saw a picture of you, just younger and with your onyx eyes instead of your sharingan. I didn't recognize you when I ran into you in the forest, but your eyes stood out to me. I had completely forgotten that you were an Uchiha till you mentioned your name."

"Then I had to remind you who Sasuke was," Jun intercepted.

Kairi giggled and nodded her head. "Yep. And then I realized that this is the same Sasuke as the one in Fugaku-san's letters. One of the last of the Uchiha clan."

Sasuke looked at her and then slowly nodded. "One out of two..." he trailed off.

"Impossible," Kairi smirked. "There are a couple of Uchiha members in Shinjuku that I know of. Just because people belong to one clan, doesn't mean they all have to stay together, you know?"

Sasuke nodded and then looked at the Fuuchouin estate. "You're basically a family friend," Kairi grinned.

"So we definitely have to treat him nicely?" a worried Jun asked Kairi.

"Whether we knew him or not, it is common courtesy to treat our guests with the utmost respect and hospitality," Kairi somewhat scolded Jun. She gave a soft smile after and then looked at Sasuke. "So we definitely have to keep it a secret that you're here?" She asked the sharingan bearer.

He nodded and replied, "That is correct."

Jun spoke out, "How will that work out? People will find out he's here!"

"Transformation jutsu, a perfected version," Sasuke replied back.

"I can always inform Tsunade-sama that we have a family member staying over and that she can trust him," Kairi chimed in.

"How will she believe that?" Jun asked skeptically.

"She has no choice. I may be the last Fuuchouin member, but my inheritance will not waste away so easily," Kairi chuckled and placed a strand of brown hair behind her ear. "She needs the money to keep rebuilding Konoha, so she would never turn down a request of mine."

"But she'll question how he got here..." Jun trailed off.

"Then tomorrow morning, we'll have Sasuke come through the gates as if he's just walking in and he can request to see the Hokage with my presence in the office," Kairi answered back.

Jun gave up on arguing and muttered, "If you're positive this will work...then I have no objections..." He trailed off and sighed.

Kairi gave him a thumbs up and jumped out of the bench. "Sounds good to me! What about you Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke nodded and smirked. "Might work actually."

Sasuke and Jun stood up as well and followed Kairi to the gigantic, white twin doors. Kairi opened the unlocked doors and entered the beautiful entrance of the estate. The main entrance had a large, silver and crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a large painted ceiling of angels coming towards the beautiful chandelier. There was a small, circular burgundy table under the chandelier with a glass vase of yellow roses and two keys to the house on top of the table. The two spiral staircases met midway which led to two gigantic white doors in the center. The staircases separated after to make an east and west wing. Simply put, it was big.

"Can't believe you designed this house," Jun spoke with awe as he looked around from the marbled floors to the beige walls to the silver railings of the staircases.

Sasuke looked at Kairi and asked her, "You designed this?"

"Sure did," Kairi spoke proudly. "The house has a total of 10 bedrooms and 11 1/2 bathrooms, excluding the ones in the basement. The basement is fully finished with a movie theater, arcade, a guest bedroom and bathroom, and a kitchen." She explained.

Everyone in the room stared at the house for a few more minutes as they took in the new paint smell and the fine architecture. Kairi finally looked and turned to Sasuke. She smiled and spoke to him. "I take it you want to visit your old house."

Sasuke nodded and continued to look around the estate. Kairi spoke up again, "Oh Jun-kun," she gained his attention and continued, "To get to your room, take the staircase on the right. Once you've finished going up the staircase, the east wing will divide in two. To make sure you're on the right staircase, there is a portrait of a puppy in the center of the split. To get to your room, you need to go left and you'll find three doors: one in the left, one in the middle, and one in the right. Your room is the right door, my is the left door, and Uchiha-san's room is the right door."

Jun nodded excitedly and ran up to see his room. Kairi motioned Sasuke to follow her outside. They left through the main doors and walked to the left side of the compound to reach Sasuke's old house. Sasuke and Kairi walked into the traditional Japanese house. "Looks like they cleaned out this place too," Kairi spoke to herself. "I hope they didn't touch the memorial I had the workers build in here..."

"Memorial?" Sasuke asked her.

"Mhm, for Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san. It's in your living room if you wanna go look at it. I'm gonna look for the box that your father had that contained the letters my otou-san sent to your father," Kairi smiled. "I really wanna compare the letters with the box I have in my room."

Sasuke nodded and walked off while Kairi ran upstairs and into Fugaku's office. She looked around and couldn't find it till she stepped on a wooden panel that sounded different from the other panels she stepped on. Kairi got on her knees and bent down to pick up the wooden panel. The box was hidden away underneath it. Kairi picked up the red box with a yin sign and brought it with her downstairs. "Sasuke?" She called out.

He came out and stood in front of her. "You got the box?" He asked, interested as he examined the box.

"Yep! Let's head back," Kairi smiled and walked ahead with him right behind her.

They got back inside the house and were walking up the east wing staircase when they ran into Jun. His brown hair was damp from the shower that he just had and smiled when he saw Kairi walking towards him. "My bedroom is amazing Kai-chan!"

"It's twice the size of my bedroom," Kairi chuckled and stopped in front of him. She smiled and patted his head with the one hand that was not holding the box. He looked at the box curiously and asked her. "What is that?"

"Hopefully the letters that otou-san sent to Fugaku-san. I haven't looked inside yet," Kairi responded and walked towards her room with the two boys behind her. The trio walked into a rather big room...Jun's bedroom was twice the size of this. The walls were painted celeste blue with white furniture and white curtains that led to a balcony that had a view of the backyard and a large telescope. There wasn't much that stood out in the room besides the blue glow stars on the ceiling, the dark blue carpet with one large yellow star carpet and one small yellow star next to it, and a globe that had the constellations on it that was sitting on Kairi's white desk. There were two posters in her room as well: A chart with the names of stars, and a husky puppy.

Kairi bent down and grabbed a box from under her bed. "This was the only thing that survived the fire that Kisame set on the Fuuchouin manor," Kairi explained and brought the boxes together. The box that belonged to Kairi's father was blue with a yang symbol.

Sasuke yanked the boxes open. Inside of it were filled with letters. "So many..." Jun responded in shock.

"This is gonna take a while to sort out..." Kairi responded. "We'll figure this out tomorrow. I'm gonna shower first and then make dinner. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Jun nodded and walked back to his room. Sasuke stared at the boxes and Kairi noticed he hasn't left yet as she went through her drawers to get her pajamas and undergarments. "Is something wrong Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke turned to look at Kairi. "I'm curious as to what they said to each other..." He said.

"Same here," Kairi responded back. "I haven't really read through the letters my otou-san received from Fugaku-san. Just the jist of it cause there were so many..."

Sasuke nodded and walked out of Kairi's room. "A man of few words," Kairi mumbled to herself and got in the shower.

* * *

Kairi's POV

I finished showering and ran downstairs to start preparing dinner. I pranced through the kitchen and opened the storage room to find a crate of tomatoes that have just fully ripened. "Sweet! A whole two day supply!" I giggled cheerfully and picked up the box out of the storeroom. "Dinner...riceballs with tomatos inside. That sounds perfect! But...Jun doesn't like tomatoes...I'll make him pasta with Alfredo sauce. He would love that. I wonder what Sasuke wants...well speak of the devil." Right when I was talking to myself, Sasuke walked into the kitchen. "Hey Sasuke-san, what would you like for dinner?"

"What are you making?" Sasuke asked curiously and took a seat on the high chair that was by the marbled island table.

"I'm making pasta with Alfredo sauce for Jun and tomato filled riceballs for myself!" I cheered happily. Just the mention of tomatoes made me happy.

"I'll have what you're having," Sasuke replied back.

I chuckled nervously and asked him, "A-are you sure?" My left eye twitched.

He nodded. I was sort of hesitant on sharing my riceballs...but he's a guest. I sighed and nodded my head while I mumbled, "Fine..."

Sasuke smirked and grabbed a tomato from the crate. He washed it in the kitchen sink and took a bite out of it. My mouth couldn't help but drop wide open. He stole my tomato! I slowly started picking up my kitchen knife, but I resisted the urge to stab him and placed it back down. Sasuke smirked even more and walked out of the kitchen while he yelled out, "Call me when dinner's ready!"

I fumed as I could hear the amusement in his voice. This guy was teasing me! I furiously cooked dinner that night and oddly, it was the best I've ever made.

...

I was washing the dishes after a rather tasty dinner. I should cook angrily more often. I chuckled to myself while I had that thought. While I was drying a plate, Sasuke came back into the kitchen. "I thought you went to bed?" I asked him, not keeping my eyes off the plate.

"I couldn't sleep till we have a straight story for the Hokage tomorrow," Sasuke replied. If he's not asleep, I wonder if Jun's asleep... "Jun is asleep," he spoke out and smirked. I stopped washing the dishes and stared at him skeptically. "I didn't read your mind," he looked at me with a blank look. "You're really easy to read, that's all."

I sighed and turned off the faucet. I took a seat next to him. "Alright, let's start out with your name."

...

"Raidon." I answered back.

"Taiyou," Sasuke retaliated. This has been going on for the past five minutes now.

"Fine, my final answer is Shun." I spoke out, tired.

"One I can actually agree on," Sasuke mumbled.

"Shun Kakei will be your full name, got that Shun?" I joked.

He nodded and smirked, "Got it. Transformation, you'll have to aid me on that one tomorrow morning. Background?"

"You're the son of Sakura Kakei and Makube or Makubex, and you have two siblings: an older sister named Yuri Kakei and a younger sister named Bara Kakei. You're the nephew of Juubei Kakei and Himeko Kudo, cousins of Jun, Hiro, and me, Kairi. As for the Kakei clan, they are a clan that uses needles as weapons and for medical purposes. The Kakei clan used to be the doctors to the Fuuchouin clan, and somewhat bodyguards. "

"That sounds perfect," Sasuke replied back. He stood up from his seat and started walking out of the kitchen. He stopped briefly and mumbled, "Good night." And with that he walked out.

I smiled a bit to myself. "Looks like he is opening up just a bit. He might not be a bad person..." I yawned and after I finished washing the dishes, I went upstairs and crashed onto my bed. Tomorrow is going to be really a risky day...

珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍珍

The next chapter is where the real action begins! Stay tuned for Chapter Four: Test!


	4. Test

Title: Protect

Summary: Anyone can protect the ones they love, but sometimes the protector has to be the protected.

Parings: SasukexOC(Kairi), ItachixOC(Yumiko), GaaraxOC(Kaoru), NarutoxHinata, SakuraxKiba, NejixTenten, ShikamaruxTemari, InoxSai

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND THE GETBACKERS AND SINCE I DISCLAIM THIS, YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT TO SUE ME! =P.

Note: This sort of follows the manga but has its own story route. It happens after the Pein invasion, but Konoha is completely restored and as good as new.

The next time I update a chapter will be delayed due to basketball practices for summer tournaments!

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CHAPTER 4: Test

Sasuke's POV

The sound of wood creaking woke me up. For the first time in years, I was able to sleep without my guard up. I didn't trust that Fuuchouin girl and that little boy, but I knew they weren't capable of harming me.

The sound of knocking reached my ears and I opened my eyes. I ruffled around my hair for a bit and then sat up. "Come in," I responded.

The Fuuchouin girl opened the door and scurried into the room. She opened the velvet drapes and the sun shined into the room. I squinted my eyes and looked away from the bright light.

While she was tying the drapes to the side, I took this time to study her appearance. Her hair was so long it went past her lower bottom with some evident split ends. She really needed to cut her hair. Her figure wasn't slender like Sakura's was, but she was definitely not fat. Her blue eyes shone from the sunlight and then she turned to look at me and smiled.

Why is she smiling all the damn time? It made me rather annoyed. The girl lost her family in the same fashion as mine, yet she kept smiling. I felt a bit irritated towards her, or maybe I envied her. As I was trying to figure out my conflicted feelings of whether I hated or envied this girl, she spoke up.

"Morning Uchiha-san! Would you like to eat breakfast before you set out for our plan?"

I shook my head and got up from the rather comfy bed. I plotted to steal this mattress when I leave Konoha again.

The girl sighed rather sadly which made me look at her. She replied with a soft, "Okay..." and walked out of the room, dejected.

I was confused. Was it something I did? All I did was shake my head. Why do I even care? I shook off my thoughts once more and made my bed before heading downstairs. I found the Kakei boy and the Fuuchouin girl sitting in the dining room with a rather large breakfast. I overheard the little boy ask, "Uchiha-san isn't joining us for breakfast?"

Seems that they haven't noticed my presence.

The girl shook her head and smiled sadly. "Nah, maybe he didn't like my cooking from yesterday. It's fine though, I'll eat his rations!" She became cheerful again.

"You're gonna gain weight Kai-chan..." Jun sweatdropped.

I found the scene rather comical and lightly chuckled. However, this did not go unnoticed and they finally noticed my presence.

"Don't make fun of me..." the girl sighed. She stuffed french toast into her mouth and cherry tomatoes were her side dish. It looked rather tempting...

"Oh Sasuke-san!" the damn girl interrupted my thoughts again. "I have a picture of Sakura oba-san and Makube oji-san."

She placed it on the table and slid it over to me.

With one swift move, I snatched the picture, a french toast, and four cherry tomatoes and walked out of the house. I smirked when I saw her jaw dropped face. Being here for a while might not be so bad...who am I kidding. I'm gonna destroy this village. The sinister thought came back to me and I glared at the village. Damn all these happy people. They are the ones who annihilated my clan. They deserve the same fate. Fuck them all.

I had these dark thoughts as I snuck out of the village once more. When I was out of sight for sure, I transformed into a mature version of that Jun boy but with silver hair and bright blue eyes. I took the hair and eye color features from my "father" and the Kakei nose and facial shapes from my "mother." I didn't look bad at all, if anything, I still looked so damn good. I could seduce my way into the village if I wanted to. But fuck that, I don't want to deal with annoying fangirls all over again. Worst case scenario, I run into Sakura and she falls for Shun. The shit I do for revenge...

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Normal POV

Kairi and Jun were cleaning up the dining room after the rather large breakfast. "Canon in D" was heard throughout the whole house, meaning someone rang the doorbell. Kairi ran over to the door and opened it to reveal a bulky jonin with a dark goatee who waited in front of her door. "Hello," Kairi greeted the tall ninja.

"Good morning Fuuchouin-sama, the Hokage urgently needs your attendance at her office at once," the man sternly replied.

"No problem, I'll be there in five minute," Kairi replied back before waving goodbye and closed the white doors. She shouted out from the entrance, "Jun-kun! We gotta head over to the Hokage's mansion!"

Jun ran over from the dining room and nodded. The both of them got on their ninja shoes and made their way to the mansion.

Kairi nervously twirled her hair with her finger as she hoped for the plan to work. As much as the Uchiha intimidated her, he is in some way of what's left of her father.

The duo entered into the mansion and knocked on the Hokage's office door. "Come in," a woman's voice commanded.

Kairi opened the door which revealed Tsunade sitting behind her desk, Shizune besides her, and a boy with silver, spiky, shory hair faced Tsunade with two jonins by his side. The teenage boy turned around and smirked. "Hello, Kairi-chan. Jun-kun."

Kairi smiled brightly and ran to Sasuke. "Shun-kun!" Kairi hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you can make it!" While she replied, she thought in her head, _He's a really good actor..._

Jun ran soon after and hugged Sasuke as well, "Shun-nii!"

Sasuke reluctantly hugged them back which was luckily unnoticed by the higher ninjas in the room. They broke apart the hug and turned to Tsunade.

Kairi got on her knees and bowed to Tsunade. "I'm so sorry that Shun came here unannounced."

Tsunade got up from her desk and stood in front of Kairi, laughing. "It's alright Kairi-san, Shun Kakei here told me everything. However, I do need his files sent over if he wants to stay here and become a ninja of Konoha."

"Will do Tsunade-sama," Kairi replied and stood back up.

"The deadline is two weeks. That is all. Jun-san and Shun-san, you two are dismissed." Tsunade motioned the two jonins to escort them out. The door was shut and then she turned to Kairi. "Kairi-san."

"Yes Tsunade-sama?" Kairi asked nervously.

"Relax Kairi-san, I just wanted to let you know that you will receive a test tomorrow to become a genin here in Konoha," Tsunade smiled and then squinted her eyes to study Kairi. "Why do you seem tensed up?"

Kairi stuttered as she responded, "Y-y-you are v-very intimidating m-my lady..."

Tsunade laughed and chugged down the suspicious drink. "That is all. You may leave now."

Kairi nodded and left the office in a hurry while she thought, _No wonder it was easy...she's drunk!_

* * *

Kairi found Sasuke and Jun waiting outside the Hokage mansion. "Oh thanks for waiting for me," she cheerfully replied and stood in between both of them.

Sasuke glared at her and grabbed her white shirt while he looked straight into her eyes, their faces were only centimeters apart. "Hug me like that again, and I'll feed your head to my snakes," Sasuke hissed with such a menacing tone.

Kairi nodded her rapidly and Sasuke let her go. "It was only to make it believable," Kairi spat back. "And your breath stinks," she mumbled.

It didn't go past Sasuke's ears, but he settled with a glare towards the young Fuuchouin and started walking ahead. Jun and Sasuke returned home while Kairi headed over to the training grounds to get some practice in before her test tomorrow.

She picked the two gold bells out of her hair and drew out the strings. Kairi swirled the strings around her fingers and took a bit of it in her mouth. The white strings tied itself around a tree that was about 0.75 meters in diameter. Kairi smirked and lightly moved her fingers in a complex manner to give it the appropriate vibration.

The result, the tree splitted in half.

Kairi smiled with her satisfied work and knew she was ready for tomorrow. With that, she left the training grounds and soon returned to the Fuuchouin estate to sleep before her big day.

* * *

The Next Day

It was early morning when Kairi was walking to the Hokage mansion. Kairi was excited but nervous all at the same time. She hoped that she could be of use in Konoha. While she was absorbed in her thoughts, she was already in front of the door to the Hokage's office. She lightly knocked and heard a "Come in," and invited herself in.

Inside the office besides Tsunade and Shizune, she saw Naruto, Hinata, and a teenager with pineapple hair. "Naruto-kun! Hina-chan!" Kairi greeted them and walked over to them with a bright smile.

"G-good morning, K-kairi-chan," Hinata lightly smiled back.

"Hey Fuu-chan!" Naruto smiled back, his whiskers moved.

Kairi turned her head to the pineapple head and saw that he had a very bored expression on. "Rather watch the clouds?" She joked.

"Tell me about...," he responded to the question seriously. "Shikamaru Nara, Kairi-san."

"Nice to meet you Nara-san," she replied back.

Tsunade cleared her throat and gained the attention of the four teenagers. "As you can see Kairi-san, I have three of my ninjas here to proctor you on your test. You will carry out two simple D-rank missions, one C-rank mission, and be scored based on intelligence, speed, and timing. Shikamaru will score you on intelligence, Hinata will score you on timing, and Naruto will score you on speed. That is all," Tsunade explained and dismissed them from the Hokage mansion.

(⌒-⌒; )

At the training grounds

Shikamaru was next to Kairi as Naruto and Hinata were sitting in front of a tree talking to each other. "Alright Kairi-san," Shikamaru spoke up. "Your first mission is to catch this cat that escaped from a citizen."

Kairi nodded and ran out with Shikamaru, Naruto, and Hinata following behind her. Kairi stopped by a sushi bar and ordered 8 rolls of spicy tuna.

The three ninjas sweat dropped and looked at each other.

Kairi smiled at them and started walking with the sushi in her hands. "This is a client's cat right? How much is she paying to get her cat back?" Kairi asked.

"50,000 r-ryo (about 5,000 US Dollars)," Hinata replied back.

Kairi stopped walking and gave herself time to think. "Nara-san, what's the highest a D-rank mission pays?"

"50,000 ryo," Shikamaru answered.

"So this cat has a wealthy owner I assume...that means this cat will settle for cheap food that it's never tried before besides having the usual cat food," Kairi spoke to herself.

Kairi took out a bell from her hair and tied a string on one of the sushi rolls. She backed away from the sushi and was out of the line of sight. Two minutes later, a fat white cat pranced its way towards the sushi.

"Is that the cat?" Kairi whispered to Naruto. He nodded and showed her a picture of the cat. The cat in the picture had the same purple collar as the one currently devoured the sushi.

There was one sushi left, the one with the string around it. As the cat was about to eat the last sushi, Kairi pulled the string and the sushi was sliding towards her. The cat followed the string and Kairi came out of the shadows. She slowly walked towards the cat and picked up the sushi. She bent down to her knees and stuck out her hand with the spicy tuna in her palm.

The cat slowly approached Kairi. In extreme caution, the cat stuck out her tongue and lightly licked the sushi. As seeing that Kairi won't harm it, the cat soon ate the sushi.

Kairi lightly petted the cat and picked the cat up without harming it. The cat was cradled in Kairi's arms and soon fell asleep. "Aw..." Kairi awed. She smiled at the sleeping cat.

Shikamaru, Naruto, and Hinata came out with a smile on their face.

"So cute..." Hinata whispered and lightly petted the sleeping cat.

Shikamaru interrupted the two girls and spoke up, "The next mission is to catch a food burglar that has been robbing local restaurants in Konoha. The only evidence we have is that the burglar is a male chunin and has a dog helping him."

"Do you have a list of the places where he robbed?" Kairi asked Shikamaru.

Shikamaru handed Kairi a list which she silently read, "Tako Teriyaki...Sushi Plaza..." Kairi handed the list back to Shikamaru. "Let's go eat at Ichiraku Ramen!"

Naruto, with no hesitation at all, grabbed the two girls and Shikamaru's hands and made a run to the outside of the ramen restaurant.

The smell of pork flared into Kairi's nostrils and her mouth began to water, but it was nothing compared to the Niagara Falls pouring out of Naruto's mouth.

"Why here?" Shikamaru asked.

"According to the list," Kairi explained as she took a seat inside, "this is usually the time when the robber strikes. By the names of the restaurants, it's going in reverse alphabetical order. Like Teriyaki, Sushi, and now Ramen!"

"That's good and all but how are you gonna catch him?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

Kairi pointed down at the cat sleeping on her lap. "The dog will hesitate even just for a second when it sees a cat. That'll give me enough time to use my strings and capture the food thief!"

After the three ninjas and one soon to be ninja ordered their ramen, the time was now 2:30PM.

Kairi fidgeted anxiously, she hoped that she was right and that the food bandit would strike now. On cue, a blur sped past the shop and stole the food that was arriving in front of Kairi, Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru. However, like Kairi predicted, the dog hesitated for a second to take a look at the cat the was sleeping on Kairi's lap. The owner of the dog was sitting on top of it, silently cursing.

Kairi used her white strings to pull the robber back. The thief kept struggling to escape but Kairi lightly hissed, "Keep struggling and you'll get cut."

Hinata gasped once she recognized the thief. "K-Kiba-kun?"

Kiba grinned mischievously at Hinata and answered, "Hey Hinata-chan!"

Shikamaru patted Kiba on the back and motioned Kairi to undo the strings. "Well done Kiba-san and excellent job Kairi-san."

Kairi jumped cheerfully and pulled out a victory sign. "Alright! One more to go."

Naruto cleared his throat which got the all the teenagers around him their attention. "Um...before mission three...can we finish the ramen?"

Shikamaru, Hinata, and Kiba sweatdropped. Kairi ran back into the booth, she already dug into the soon to be cold ramen. Naruto smiled as he took that as a yes and started finishing up his lunch.

(=^ェ^=)

Outside of Konoha gates

The large green gates of Konoha were left open. Four teenagers made their way along the dirt path out of the Hidden Leaf Village. As they were walking, Shikamaru explained Kairi's final mission. "There is a thief in Otogakure that a client has asked for a ninja in Konoha to arrest. Usually for a C-rank mission it's bodyguard duty or animal hunting, but this thief has a small knowledge of using ninjutsu and is not much of a threat to be considered a B-rank mission."

Kairi nervously nodded her head.

Shikamaru, who noticed Kairi's anxiety, reassured her, "Tsunade-sama has faith in you. Normally a mission like this is for a chunin to handle, but Tsunade believes you're more than capable of handling it as a genin. She wishes to speak to you about the chunin exams once you return."

Kairi smiled to herself. 'Wow, I can't believe the Hokage has so much expectation of me. I can't make her think otherwise!' Kairi thought, determination in her eyes.

Shikamaru handed Kairi a scroll that has the criminal's face and description on it. The criminal had a 5 o'clock shadow, shaggy brown hair, green eyes, tanned skin, and a rather handsome, toned face.

"He's not that bad looking," Kairi checked him out with a silly smile. "For a 32 year old."

Shikamaru sighed. "Alright, we're going to stop here. Good luck finding him."

Hinata gave Kairi a small hug and Naruto a high five. Kairi walked ahead of the three ninjas with her head high. "Pray for me...Jun-kun...," she silently spoke to herself.

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So so so sorry about the delay! I had a basketball tournament that I was training for and won 1st place! I'll try updating more often =]


	5. Reunion

Title: Protect

Summary: Anyone can protect the ones they love, but sometimes the protector has to be the protected.

Parings: SasukexOC(Kairi), ItachixOC(Yumiko), GaaraxOC(Kaoru), NarutoxHinata, SakuraxKiba, NejixTenten, ShikamaruxTemari, InoxSai

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND THE GETBACKERS AND SINCE I DISCLAIM THIS, YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT TO SUE ME! =P.

Note: This sort of follows the manga but has its own story route. It happens after the Pein invasion, but Konoha is completely restored and as good as new.

I am so sorry for the whole MIA thing! Been really busy but I'll work hard to make sure I upload more frequently!

"Saying"

'Thinking'

Just in case you know?

再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会

Chapter 5: Reunion

An hour or two passed by as Kairi ran, jumped, and glided through the trees. The scent of rice slithered its way into her nostrils, signaling that she was close to the Land of Sound.

She jumped down and drooled a bit from the scent. "Man I'm hungry. Thinking about all the rice balls I can make with so much rice," she sighed and dragged her feet closer to a small, rundown village within the Land of Sound.

Kairi pulled out the wanted scroll and took a double take before placing it back into its capsule. She resumed walking.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Kairi's feet started to drag and ache. She kept pulling herself forward to not cause unnecessary attention from the "shady fellas." She eventually found a half burnt bench to rest her feet and to start thinking of a plan. "Man this sucks," she muttered under her breath. 'I have no starting point in finding this guy! Why can't he just fall from the sky?'

As if on cue, a body was flung and tackled her to the ground.

The man's face was inches away from her own and they stared at each other. Her eyes lowered as she examined the lower half of his face where he once had a five o'clock shadow; his face was clean shaved and made him look more in his mid twenties. His structured jaw line, his lips drawn into a line with no expression, his nose was not too big or too long. Her eyes moved up to the upper half of this face and met those alluring green eyes again...

'He's very handsome...It's him!' Kairi shouted in her head. She silently thanked Kami for her good luck.

"Miss?" the man finally spoke up and snapped her out of her prayer.

'His voice is deep...' Kairi noticed. She shook her head rapidly. "Y-Yes?" She managed to stutter out.

"Can you let go of me?" He asked with irritation.

Kairi slowly moved her eyes from his face to her arms which were wrapped around his torso. She squealed a bit and immediately withdrew her arms. "Sorry!" She apologized as soon as he got up.

Much to Kairi's surprise, the man extended his hand and helped her up. She lightly smiled and accepted his kind gesture. Back on her feet, she remembered what her mission was and looked at the man.

'I don't understand. I shouldn't be judging by the way he looks, but I don't think he's a criminal.'

The man coughed a bit to catch her attention. He looked a bit embarrassed but mumbled out, "Sorry."

Kairi blinked. Then she blinked again. She rapidly shook her head then waved her hands a bit rapidly as well. "Please don't apologize. I'm sure you had your reasons for flying out of nowhere."

The man curtly nodded and started walking away from Kairi. As Kairi watched his retreating back, she suddenly remembered her mission again. "Um wait up sir!" She ran towards him.

The man stopped and turned back with a raised brow. "Yes?" He asked impatiently.

Kairi scurried over to his side. The man took the gesture that she wanted to walk side by side with him. He resumed walking as he waited for her to speak.

"Um...why were you flying like that?" She asked nervously.

Kairi was nervous. She knew she was from the constant hand motions. Her hands folded and then unfolded repeatedly. Her palms were a bit sweaty. She hoped that this man didn't detect the nerve wrecking atmosphere.

He sighed. He knew that she won't leave without an answer. With a hand, he lightly tousled around his hair before he answered, "A fight in my job."

"Your job?" Kairi asked curiously.

The man nodded and wiped away the little dirt that was resting on his pale green, cotton sweater by his left elbow. "I work as a bartender in this village. Gotta make a living somehow."

Kairi nodded. She noticed that the man's once tensed body was now relaxing the more he spoke to her. "I never got your name mister," she looked at him.

He looked back at her before turning his head straight ahead. "It's rude to ask for someone's name without stating your own first," the man smirked.

Kairi face palmed for the obvious blunder. "Please forgive my rude mannerism," she apologized. "I'm Kira Fujisaki," she introduced herself.

She knew to not give away her name freely. It was something she came up with on the spot.

"Keiichi Honda," the man replied back.

With a few more minutes of walking through the roads of the Land of Sound, Keiichi stopped by to talk to a road merchant. Kairi curiously looked on as Keiichi took out a bag filled with coins. He handed the whole thing to the merchant and in return received a small medicine bottle. 'Is he on drugs?' Kairi wondered.

As Kairi was trying to reach a conclusion, the man returned to her side. "Are you gonna keep following me?" He asked, more curiously than annoyed.

Kairi smiled, "No I'll leave you alone now. Sorry for the bother," she bowed and apologized.

Keiichi smiled lightly, patted her head, and took his leave.

Kairi brought her head back up as Keiichi walked away. 'Got the target, now time for stealth mode,' Kairi thought as she crouched and disappeared from plain sight.

⊂((・x・))⊃

She waited for her strings to stop moving before she could follow the trail.

Flashback ( ^ ^ )/□

When Keiichi stopped by the road merchant, Kairi took out one of her golden bells and covered it with her right hand. He came back to her and Kairi bowed to apologize. As she bowed and he turned around, she manipulated the strings to go around his left ankle as loosely as possible. It went undetected and completed stage one of Kairi's plan.

End of flashback ( ^ ^ )/■

The string halted.

Kairi ran as fast and quietly as she could towards it. She glided past the casual residents and into a forest away from village. Kairi reached her destination as the strings were under a wooden door. There was a small wooden cabin with a tiny chimney.

Kairi quietly tip-toed to the front porch and peaked through the window. What she saw ached her heart.

Keiichi sat in a small wooden stool and fed the medicine to a bedridden girl that looked no older than eight. She had long hair that matched the man's chocolate hair and the green eyes to top it off. The little girl was speaking in a very expressive and happy manner to the man who in return, politely nodded and smiled sincerely.

Kairi clutched her heart. She felt sorry, but she knew such feelings shouldn't exist for a ninja. She had to complete her mission. Taking a deep breath, Kairi walked over to the door and knocked.

20 seconds...

1 minute...

No one answered the door.

Kairi sighed and looked sternly at the wooden door. 'Looks like you're going down' she thought about the door and muttered an apology. With one swift kick, the door came down.

Two pairs of green eyes shot over to the intruder standing at the doorway. Kairi casually leaned against the wooden doorframe while she frequently tossed her two golden bells in the air. She lightly smiled at the two, "Hey there."

Keiichi gasped. He was stunned and confused. He immediately stood up from the stool and withdrew a kunai knife from the left sleeve of his sweater. Kairi smirked and pulled her string forward with a light yank.

He fell back and the kunai flew out of his hand to the other side of the cabin. Keiichi's head made contact with the wooden stool; the was stool broken in half. He groaned in pain and with the support of the bed, he hoisted himself up. "What...are you doing?" He asked Kairi.

She winced from the expression he had given her. Kairi knew what he felt from that face. 'He feels betrayed.' Kairi sadly thought to herself, her expression softened. 'That's the same face Jun made when I took the last ice cream bar from the freezer...'

She shook away the memory and smiled softly. "Honda-san...you're under arrest for robbery and using ninjutsu against innocent civilians," she declared.

Keiichi kept his head down. "I knew I would get caught eventually," he answered. He turned his attention to the little girl. "Maya..."

The little girl smiled and reached out her small hand to hold his own.

Kairi's eyes started tearing up a bit. She took the sleeve of her long white shirt and wiped her eyes. "That's so cute," she sniffled. "Honda-san..."

Keiichi nodded and hesitantly released the little girl's hold. He walked over to Kairi and turned around. Kairi wrapped his hands around with her strings tightly. "Please don't move your hands around too much," she warned. "It can cut very deep."

Keiichi nodded once more and looked back at Maya. Kairi slowly made her way to the little girl's bedside and stared into her eyes. Although Kairi's eyes were to Maya, her voice was to Keiichi. "Honda-san...I'll take care of your daughter. While in prison, you can redeem yourself and see her again." Kairi smiled at the little girl. "Please do it for her," she pleaded.

"Niece," Keiichi deadpanned.

"Niece?" Kairi asked, confused.

"Yes..." Kairi heard the little girl speak up for the first time. "My okaa-san was a single mother. Oji-san helped her take care of me till she passed away..." Maya spoke and did not press the subject any further.

Kairi gently reached out her hand. The little girl smiled sadly and accepted it.

Maya lightly threw over her bed sheet to the side and stood up. She patted down her plain, light pink nightdress and held onto Kairi's hand again. Kairi smiled sadly and looked down, 'I almost changed my mind...'

The three left the small cabin.

( T_T)＼(^-^ )

The orange sky was dressed in pink clouds. The sun was setting.

After five to six hours of endless walking, Kairi, Maya, and Keiichi finally made it to the clearing and in front of those giant green gates. A few breaks were snuck in for little Maya as her sickness did not treat her stamina so well. They luckily arrived before nighttime.

A jonin that was stationed by the gates escorted Maya and Keiichi to the Hokage Mansion. Kairi looked on and smiled sadly, 'I hope things will be okay.' As she took a step into the gates, an arrow flew passed her.

"Baka," a voice echoed.

Kairi frantically looked around. She decided to dismiss the arrow. As she was about to take another step, another arrow flew past her. Kairi immediately drew out her bells and got into a fighting stance. "Show yourself!" She yelled out, her face was more panicked than fearless.

"That's the same, stupid face you made when the chickens were released from the coop," a female voice chuckled.

"It's called Alektorophobia!" Kairi shouted out to the air. "Wait a minute," Kairi lightly spoke to herself. "Only one person knows how I developed this phobia." Kairi looked to her left side and saw a shadow leaning against a tree. "No way..." she trailed off.

The shadow stepped up front and came closer to Kairi.

Kairi's face was in disbelief. She was surprised, shocked, happy, and sad. Her emotions went haywire. "Yu-Yumi-chan..." tears started building up in her eyelids. "It's really you..."

Kairi's face was covered in tears. After seven years, she was finally reunited with Yumiko Takashi, her best friend.

Yumiko smirked and lightly opened up arms for Kairi to crash into. Kairi ran full force and tackled her best friend down. "Dude!" She shouted, laughed, and cried at the same time.

Yumiko got up and pulled Kairi up. Yumiko's eyes were a bit wet but she was not ballistic with tears as Kairi was. With an unexpected punch, Kairi was sent flying and back to the ground.

Kairi looked up, her eyes widened at Yumiko, and placed a hand on top of the jaw that was just abused. "Yu-Yumi-chan?"

She was mad. No, Yumiko was furious. "You idiot!" she lashed out at the Fuuchouin girl.

"What did I do now?" Kairi asked herself out of habit.

"Did you forget about me?" Yumiko glared.

"What? Me?" Kairi looked at her skeptically. She pointed at herself and stood up. "You mean you forgot about me!" She accused Yumiko and pointed at her.

"Right," Yumiko rolled her eyes. "Those letters of two whole years clearly meant I forgot about you," she sarcastically remarked.

"What letters?" Kairi asked. "I was trying to send you letters but never received any," Kairi responded back.

"Liar!" Yumiko shouted and was ready to release another arrow with her bow.

Kairi slowly stepped forward. Once she was a good three feet away, she looked into Yumiko's eyes. "You of all people know when I'm lying," Kairi softly spoke.

Yumiko's expression softened and her mouth curved upward into a smirk. "So...fuck using the mail system?"

Kairi grinned and nodded. "Un!"

The two sixteen year olds laughed with each other and walked into the gates together.

(=´∀｀)人(´∀｀=)

As Kairi and Yumiko was getting closer to the Hokage's mansion, Kairi studied Yumiko's grown up appearance. 'She certainly grew taller, but I'm almost the same height,' Kairi thought and somewhat reassured herself. 'I am not short, I am average,' Kairi's inner thoughts echoed in her head.

Yumiko's red hair was shoulder length with three beads strung into a lock at the front, one red, one blue and one white. The red hair made her blue eyes pop out even more. Her skin was pale but not sickly pale. Her frame was much slender compared to Kairi's. 'She must work out a lot,' Kairi nodded to herself.

Yumiko wore a light blue, one sleeveless dress that ended above mid-thigh. The sleeveless strap was around her left shoulder. Around her waist was a small orange pouch, across her body from her right shoulder was a large, black duffle bag and a black quiver for the multitude of arrows. She had two black leather gloves, the right one went past her right shoulder and the left one ended just above her left elbow. Underneath the dress was black tights that had bandages wrapped around the left mid-thigh and for footwear, she adorned black leather, knee high boots. To top off the look, she wore her Kirigakure hitai-ate around her neck.

'She looks good!' Kairi cheered in her head.

"Of course I do," Yumiko answered Kairi as if she read her mind.

Kairi's jaw dropped a bit till Yumiko responded, "You kept staring at me. I figured it was about my look." She shrugged.

Kairi chuckled. "You're very pretty Yumi-chan!" Kairi beamed.

"And you've gained a bit of weight," Yumiko retorted and pinched Kairi's cheeks.

"Aw man, it's starting to show," Kairi sulked and pinched her own cheeks.

"You'll lose it with missions and cutting down all the damn rice you eat," Yumiko smirked.

Kairi pouted and sighed sadly. "It might result to that, BUT," she emphasized on the "but," "I in no way refuse to give up tomatoes."

After squabbling back and forth, the two females were in front of the Hokage's office doors. "Well, here it goes," Kairi prepared herself.

"Hm?" Yumiko wondered.

Kairi turned to Yumiko and responded, "I'm getting my test results back to see if I'm qualified to become a genin for Konohagakure. It's not the standard test since I am older, so I'm stuck with this."

"Good luck," Yumiko offered a small smile. "I'll wait out here for you."

Kairi nodded with a smile and turned her attention back to the office doors. She took a deep breath and knocked. She heard the Hokage inviting her to come inside. She lightly turned the knob and slowly peaked into the room, and eventually, her whole body was inside the room with the red doors closed.

！(◎_◎;)

"Tsunade-sama," Kairi bowed to greet the Hokage.

Once she straightened up, she noticed Shikamaru, Hinata, Naruto, Keiichi, and Maya in the room. Keiichi's hands were no longer bonded by her strings. Kairi bowed her head to all of them as she made her way to the front.

"Are you ready to hear your results, Kairi-san?" Tsunade asked.

Kairi hesitantly nodded and kept her head down. Tsunade smiled and spoke, "All your missions were scored based on three different subjects. Each subject has a total score of ten points making the total possible score, thirty points. For missions one and two, you've received perfect scores from your three proctors."

Kairi's head shot up and looked at three of the Konoha rookie nine ninjas that were her proctors. Naruto gave her a thumbs up, Shikamaru nodded his head in acknowledgment, and Hinata lightly smiled. Kairi returned her gaze to Tsunade who continued on, "For mission three, you carried out your mission in success but you only scored a 15/30.

Kairi raised a brow. "Huh? I don't get it Tsunade-sama?" she asked, confused.

"Keiichi-san, come here," Tsunade-sama ordered. Keiichi walked over to the Hokage's side. "Please explain."

Keiichi offered a slight smile to Kairi who looked dumbfounded. "Kairi-san," he started. "You followed the rules and fulfilled your mission, but you almost abandoned it." Kairi looked down a bit sadly. Keiichi continued, "As a kunoichi, you can't let your emotions take over. If this was an actual mission and not a test, you could've been in trouble."

He walked around Tsunade's desk and stood a feet away from Kairi. Keiichi placed both his hands on her shoulders which made her look up. He smiled. "You have a kind heart and all the right intentions. Don't change them to become a ninja. Just know when to show them," he ended and poked her forehead. Kairi smiled in return.

Keiichi returned to the Hokage's side and it was Tsunade's turn to wrap things up. "Keiichi is a jonin here and Maya is his niece who is currently a student at our academy," Tsunade explained. Kairi's jaw dropped and the Hokage continued, "I will still recommend you for the chunin exams, but I want you to gain some experience as a kunoichi." Tsunade opened the drawer of her desk and slid a Konohagakure hitai-ate over. "You earned it," she smiled.

Kairi's face glowed and quickly snatched the hitai-ate off the desk. "Thank you so much Tsunade-sama!" Kairi replied gratefully and turned to leave.

"Wait just a minute," Tsunade demanded and Kairi paused. "Who's waiting out there?" She called over to the person outside.

Yumiko stepped inside and walked over to Kairi's side. "Yumiko Takashi, kunoichi of Kirigakure," Yumiko introduced herself.

"And my best friend," Kairi intervened with a smile and locked her arms around Yumiko's left arm.

Naruto jumped in front of the two females and pointed to himself with a grin. "Naruto Uzumaki! The next Hokage of this village," Naruto shouted as he introduced himself.

"Can't see it," Yumiko deadpanned and dismissed Naruto. Everyone in the room tried to hold back a giggle.

Naruto hung his head low and returned to Hinata's side who shyly patted his head.

"I'm sorry for arriving here unannounced," Yumiko apologized and bowed. She looked back up and Tsunade's hand motioned for her to continue. "I was on a mission when I heard a rumor about the last Fuuchouin moving to Konoha. It's been seven years since I've seen my best friend..." Yumiko trailed off.

Tsunade nodded in acknowledgement. "Now here you are," Tsunade responded. "You're more than welcome to stay, but you should let Kirigakure know your whereabouts."

"My squad leader has that already taken care of," Yumiko responded back.

Tsunade took a chug from her cup and mumbled "Welcome to Konoha" as she knocked out and banged her head on her desk.

"She's gonna have a terrible hangover," Kairi whispered to Yumiko who nodded in return. The two ninjas left the office.

(*^^)o∀*∀o(^^*)

Yumiko and Kairi were walking to the Fuuchouin Estate as the moon followed them. As they got closer to the Estate, Kairi became more nervous. It got even worse when she tried to hide her nerves. She silently prayed that it'll go unnoticed, but sadly her prayer's weren't answered this time.

"What are you doing?" Yumiko asked her, brow raised.

"N-nothing," Kairi stuttered. 'Shit, she's gonna know I'm lying.'

"I can tell when you're lying," Yumiko glared. "Spill," she ordered.

We both stopped walking. I fidgeted around for bit as I took deep breaths. Yumiko watched this ordeal with an amused expression. "Fine," she spoke up with a chuckle. "I'll tell you a secret of mine and then you **have** to tell me."

Kairi nodded her head in agreement. "Okay..." she trailed off.

"I'm a bounty hunter," Yumiko admitted.

Kairi's jaw dropped. "No way!" Kairi gleamed. "That's so cool, but dangerous!"

Yumiko nodded her head in agreement. "The rush of it is amazing!" Yumiko spoke about it excitedly. She suddenly changed expressions and stared at Kairi. "Your turn."

Kairi laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head with her hand. "Well, you see," Kairi started off. 'Shit, Sasuke definitely has a bounty on his head,' she panicked in her head. "Um..." she stalled.

Yumiko huffed. "Cut to the chase already," she spoke, annoyed.

"R-right...um, Yumi-chan?"

"Yes, Kai-chan?" Yumiko asked back.

Kairi smiled a bit from hearing Yumiko say her nickname, but it disappeared and she was nervous once again. "Please don't be mad at me..." she trailed off.

Yumiko raised her brow and responded, "Oh?"

Kairi lowered her head as she refused to meet Yumiko's intimidating gaze. "I may or may not be hiding someone that has a bounty on his head..." Kairi sighed.

Yumiko's eyes widened and she quickened her pace towards the mansion. Kairi panicked and grabbed Yumiko's hand as she shouted, "Wait! Please let me explain!"

Yumiko stopped moving. "Go on," she whispered.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Kairi started off and Yumiko's eyes widened even more. "Please don't take him away..."

"The bounty on his head is, well, big," Yumiko lightly responded back.

"I figured," Kairi sighed but continued. "He is somewhat the last thing left of my father besides the bells on my hair!"

"Fugaku huh?" Yumiko asked.

Kairi nodded her head. "Yeah, he's the younger one that I was telling you about back in Shinjuku."

Yumiko sighed and slightly curved her lips into a smile. "Alright, if he does no harm to you, I won't say or do anything. However, don't think that this means I approve of your decision."

Kairi beamed and bear hugged Yumiko. "Thank you so much!" she shouted.

Yumiko smirked, "You like him."

It was Kairi's turn to widen her eyes. "No I don't! I just don't want to lose something left behind by my father's friend..." she trailed off.

Yumiko laughed her ass off. "I was just joking moron! No need to go all melancholy on me."

They both laughed together and were soon at the front door of the Fuuchouin mansion. "Jun-kun is gonna be so excited to see you," Kairi smiled.

"He's here with you?" Yumiko asked and her lips curved into an evil smile. "Well that excitement is gonna change once I start living here," Yumiko chuckled evilly.

Kairi sweatdropped and opened the front door. Both girls ran into something they did not expect to see.

再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会再会

I wonder what it could be...heheheheh.


End file.
